In a letter sent to Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Richard Burr, Casey called for a hearing in a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

He said he wanted to see how well federal laws protect children and to ensure that provisions for reporting suspected cases are in place.

Pennsylvania is not one of the 18 states that require all adults to report suspected child abuse.

The request results from the state investigation into Jerry Sandusky, a former assistant football coach who is charged with abusing eight children over a 15-year period.

Also charged were a pair of Penn State administration officials — then-athletic director Tim Curley and former senior vice president Gary Schultz. They are accused of not reporting alleged abuse on the campus to law enforcement and with lying to a grand jury.

All three men have said they are innocent.

“The serious nature of these allegations and the evidence on the public record of failure to report by individuals at Penn State warrants an immediate review of the relationship between federal and state reporting requirements on child abuse and neglect” wrote Casey, a Democrat.

Justine Sessions, a spokeswoman for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said it was “closely monitoring this situation and the ongoing criminal and Department of Education investigations, and will take Sen. Casey’s request under consideration.”

Casey’s request came one day after Sandusky, once considered Paterno’s heir apparent, said he had showered with young boys and hugged them but called the allegedly criminal contact “horseplay.”